Speak up to protect our shores (column)

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Our lakes and rivers are at the heart of what is beautiful, useful and valuable in this state. It's not surprising, then, that we get anxious when the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources sets ground rules for how we can use them, and how we protect them from harm. That was the case when DNR decided, more than 10 years ago, to update the rules governing what property owners can do on shorelands, that thin strip of land that lies closest to the water.

Shoreland zoning sets minimum standards for how land is developed around lakes, flowages and rivers. The rules attempt to minimize dirt, salt and other pollution entering the water. Starting in 2002, the DNR brought together groups including the River Alliance of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Lakes and the Wisconsin Realtors and Builders Associations to reach a compromise rule that balanced flexibility for landowners with protection for fisheries, wildlife and water quality. The process took seven years and the DNR received more than 50,000 public comments. The 2009 shoreland zoning standards were not perfect, but they were rules all stakeholders could live with.

Apparently that compromise wasn't good enough, because the Department of Natural Resources is proposing to change the rules yet again before most counties have even had a chance to try them out. The changes the agency is proposing will allow more property owners to pave and build out more shorelines in more areas of the state - and with less oversight.

It may sound good to have "less regulation," until the day you wake up to your neighbor's new addition taking up most of their lot and find out it's all completely legal because they promised to throw in a few rain barrels to catch the runoff.

It may sound great to relax the rules for developing on shorelines, until the day you realize you haven't caught a decent walleye in the lake in three years.

Because that is the trade-off: The weaker the rules get, the dirtier the water will be. DNR was badgered by a very small number of voices who want to weaken the rules simply because they might be inconvenienced. Yet all of us benefit from healthy water - the lakeside tavern, the grandmother hosting the grandkids for the weekend, the marina owner, the angler. DNR's own 2012 economic analysis estimated the benefit of implementing the current shoreland zoning rules to property owners alone would exceed $29 million over the next 10 years due to improved water quality.

DNR is accepting comments on the proposed changes to shoreland zoning rules this month. It important to voice your concern about the direction of the rules and to remind the department that it is tasked not just with meeting the needs of counties and landowners but also with protecting fisheries, wildlife and water quality for all residents of Wisconsin.